It’s all very intimate at the Next Act/Renaissance Theaterworks performance space. It’s a simple stage. There are a couple of chairs. There’s a little bit of greenery. There are some white pedestals. A couple of tiny suits of armor. It’s a cozy, little romance as Brew City Opera stages its one-weekend performance of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte. A studio theatre performance of Mozart’s classic crazy romantic comedy might normally run the risk of coming across as being a bit too casual. Typically some three hours long, the Brew City production clocks-in at a very comfortable 2 hours with intermission.. Though there IS an impressively breezy sense of momentum about the opera, the speed of the show might casually compromise the lavishly dreamlike transformation of Mozart. Thankfully, Music Director Tim Rebers, and Stage Director Edson Melendez manage to maintain a sense of historical elegance about the show that still feels quite classy. The exaggerated insanity of romance flutters across the stage with a delightful sense of action that still manages to feel quite voluminous on a small studio stage.

The plot has echoes of Shakespeare. A couple of men are challenged to prove the faithfulness of the women in their lives by masquerading as strangers--each attempting to seduce the fiancé of the other. It’s light comedy that plays well with the playfulness of Mozart from a variety of different angles on a minimalist stage with some tastefully colorful illumination by Encore Theatrical Lighting. ETL makes the visual reality of the comedy feel that much more rich without the many, many layers of scenic design and costuming that might otherwise inhabit a period comedy. The intensity of the emotions are amplified by rich blues, purples, red and pinks projected against the background which catch the color of the period costuming here and there in the gracefully impassioned rush of events.

Brennan Martinez and Tabetha Steege have a fun dynamic as the two women who are challenged in their faithfulness. Steege summons powerful tension with deep inner conflict. Martinez balances the more serious end of the drama with some gorgeously amplified physical emotional comedy. There’s a deft subtlety to Martinez’ sense of humor that serves her end of the production quite well.

Soprano Anja Pustaver is impressively sharp as the maid Despina who is drawn into the subterfuge. Pustaver is deliciously expressive with her eyes. She’s got brilliant comic instincts that occasionally take the center of the stage. (Pustaver is irresistibly funny when the maid is given the task of masquerading as a doctor. She cleverly flops about in a plague doctor mask and an oversized robe that amplifies her naturally dynamic sense of physical wit. Very funny stuff.)

It’s two hours long, but it passes by with such graceful fluidity. All too quickly the dream is over, but it lingers well int the evening as summer full assets itself on the edge of June somewhere south of Broadway in Milwaukee.

Brew City Opera’s Cosi Fan Tutte has two more performances: Saturday, June 1st at 3pm and 7pm. For more information, visit Brew City Opera online.

The summer starts with Midsummer....Fairies and ghosts and fairies and comedy breezing across intimate, little spaces indoors and out in a whimsical flourish that includes a particularly talented actress doing all of Hamlet entirely on her own (with the aid of a talented director.) Shows whimsiically flit from one outdoor stage to the next as summer manifests itself across Milwaukee. Here's a look at what's ahead.

​BOO--A New Play by Deanna Strasse
Death is a topic that makes its way into the center of a few different world premiers on the small stage this summer. There’s a musical comedy opening at the Next Act/Renaissance stage in July. Prior to that, local playwright Deanna Strasse debuts a comedy about a group of paranormal investigators. The supernatural comedy makes its way to The Brick House in Riverwest June 7 - 9. The cozy old Milwaukee-looking space should serve as a fun, little home for a haunted, little comedy by one of Milwaukee’s most charming playwrights. For more information, visit the show’s events site on Facebook.

​Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
The story of a group of middle-aged siblings originally debuted about a decade ago. This June Theatrical Tendencies continues it season with a production of the show on the Inspiration Studios space in West Allis. TT is notably good with just about any show, but the intimate, little ensembles tend to really resonate with the company. The script by Christopher Durang is inspired by Chekhov...three siblings engage each other in a country house. June 14 - 23 at Inspiration Studios on1500 S. 73rd St. In West Allis. For more information, visit TT online.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Summer Shakespeare in Milwaukee opens-up with a a Summit Players production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The scrappy, little touring company makes its way to various Wisconsin parks  once again. Costuming and set elements are drawn from trunks in the course of the performance. The first regular performance makes it to Richard Bong State Recreation Area on June 14th. Directed by local theatre veteran Maureen Kilmurry, the show features Maya Banks, Jake Badovski and more. The show continues to tour through July 29, when it closes the show with a performance at  Havenwoods State Forest. For more information, visit Summit Players online,

Optimist Theatre: Shakespeare in the City
This year Optimist Theatre gets a little crazy with its offerings. Typically in the past, Optimist has offered one big show that has toured around Milwaukee parks. This summer they’re doing something bigger involving a whole bunch of rotating Shakespeare shows. In this year’s Hamlet, Michael Stebbins directs a cast of one as Libby Amato is granted the dream/nightmare of performing a one-person Hamlet. Amato is riveting onstage, so this should be a lot of fun. Patrick Schmitz returns to an old spoof with his Shakesparody Players in a performance of The Comedy of Romeo and Juliet: Kinda Sorta and Pocket Park Players present a Macbeth performed entirely...with puppets.  The action begins June 15th at Wisconsin Lutheran College and continues touring various locations through July 7th for more information, visit Optimist Theatre online.

Another Midsummer Night’s Dream
Local playwright/director Liz Shipe has taken a few characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and set them off on their own in a new show that’s being performed as a part of Optimist Theatre’s Shakespeaere In the City. Cara Johnston is Peasblossom...who is trying to convince the Fairy Queen that Puck (Noah Silverstein) is a positive influence on love in the mortal world. Another Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed twice:


June 15 at 4:30 pm at Wisconsin Lutheran College
And
June 23 at 5:00 pm at Lincoln Park

Angry Young Men Ltd.’s Full Frontal Puppetry returned this past Friday with a one-night show that brought back the distinct flavor of weirdness that had come to define the adult puppet group. The delightfully weird, little puppets have been featured on quite a few stages over the years.  This time around the group made its way to the back room of Amorphic Beer on North Fratney. I had wings from a nearby food truck before the show in a very cozy post-industrial atmosphere...enjoying a couple of Paradigm Paradox IPAs in and amidst a show dominated by fellow Xers both in and out of the audience.


A Full Frontal Puppetry is a fun satirical evening of comedy for a generation that might still harbor hazy memories of The Muppet Show over the VHF band on a low-res cathode ray tube in the prime time of  early childhood. Fuzzy, little personalities cascade through skits in a variety show atmosphere.


Modeled as it is after the overall feel of a Muppet Show, there IS a guest star. The guest for this particular show was local opera performer Julianne Perkins, who worked her way through a performance of  a very romantic piece (by Gilbert and Sullivan if I recall correctly.)  It was a duet with partner Josh in the role of a zombie puppet. It was actually an oddly touching duet for singer, puppeteer and zombie voice. Later-on Julianne sung a beautiful piece while a fuzzy, little puppet named Razzle killed mice puppets in the background. Beautiful notes flowed through the space as tiny, little bodies were crushed and decapitated amidst streamers of blood. It was...actually really, really cute.


The show is sharp and self-referential. At show’s opening. Lumpy the Golem Boy and Murry Gauntman (the old zombie guy who was the first ever AYM puppet) discuss the evening ahead and find out that very little of what they’re going to be performing on the evening is actually new material. The simply third-party presidential debate between third-party puppets, a houseplant and Julianne was fun. Once again, Sid the Fetus comes across as an eerily appealing, little guy. The houseplant representing the Green Party held everyone’s attention with some really interesting points. Not all of the old material is funny, but it never fails to be fun. It’s cool, though. FFP is inhabited by cool, little fuzzy guys to hang out with...not all of which I remember from my last visit with the FF puppets.


Of particular note in and amongst the action was an adorable, little goat with a big heart. My wife and I had a chance to talk with her a bit at intermission. She considers herself the GOAT-goat even though...y’know...she hadn’t shown-up in the entire first half of the show. After intermission, Lumpy is giving her a driving test and things...predictably...go wrong. It’s a fun sketch.


Amorphic is a fun space for a show like this. It’s off on the edges of the Riverwest’s spiritual hub.  Walk far enough in any direction in that neighborhood and you just might find the end credits to Milwaukee or something. It’s such an enchanting, existentially permeable space that makes for a really great atmosphere for a really great microbrewery.


The latest Full Frontal Puppetry was one night only. For more information on what the Full Frontal Puppets are up to, visit them on Facebook. For a look at what’s on offer at Amorphic, visit them online too.

The Baumgartner Center for Dance is a spacious temple of performance. The vast space feels like a tribute to the potential of human movement. I wasn’t there Saturday afternoon for the dance, though. Renaissance Theaterworks was hosting a program of shorts in the afternoon as a part of its Br!nk New Play Festival.


Maeve Elliot’s Dry Humor is a light comedy sketch in which Abraham Lincoln waits for his dry cleaning in heaven. Kind of a fun premise that serves as a weird opener for the show.


The second short has considerably more weight to it. Playwright Maria Pretzl builds a endearing and refreshing script around a pair of lovers and a friend at a wedding. Bouquet Toss constructs a strong and idiosyncratic relationship between three individuals who manage quite a bit more complexity than most characters manage over the course of a full-length play. Quite an accomplishment.


The third short dives into a strikingly original piece about a woman who finds herself searching for the heart of dance in and within parties all over the planet. Maria Burnham's "The Air B&B of Broken Dreams" has thematic weight AND a tremendous amount of personality. Well worth attending the program for this one alone. Feels rather pleasantly like a clever updated mutation of “Wong’s Lost and Found Emporium” by William F. Wu


Colleen O’Doherty’s Sister of Experience is a rather weighty drama that suffers a bit from being on a program with largely lighter fare. A nun is brought before a priest who is asking her to lie for the benefit of a young woman. It’s pretty heavy stuff and there really are no easy answers in one single totally serious short on the entire program.
 
The show closes-out with a comedic shirt by  Deanne Strasse.Roberta’s Skin is a fun, little examination into the psychology of body image. Nate Press is charming as an inhabitant of a nude beach who is accosted  by a woman who is endeavoring to feel comfortable in her own skin. Ashley Rodriguez is delihghtfully vulnerable as a woman just trying to fearlessly be herself. It’s a really fun ending to the program.


Renaissance Theaterworks’ Br!nk Br!efs! has one more performance on May 19th at 2pm at the Baumgartner Center for Dance on 128 N. Jackson St. Admission to the show is free. (Really.) For more information about the program and everything else on the Br!nk New Plays Festival, visit Renaissance online.

It's something called Here There Where It’s just three people on a stage. Everything is black. As the show open, chalk is marked on the ground outlining some basic boundaries that will more or less be used in the course of the rest of the show. Three characters receive and invitation for a party. Where is the party? Well...it’s not exactly clear, but the three people onstage have to work out exactly where it is that htey’re going to leave from if they’re going to be able to make any headway at all.


Italian writer/performer/filmmaker Alessandro Renda joins Gigante’s Isabelle Kralj and Mark Anderson in a jarringly funny, little exploration into the nature of reality. The three performers engage in a brief performance that seems to conjure a sort of existentialist Marx Brothers sort of an energy that playfully and whimsically tumbles across the stage. The nature of time, space emotion and intention whimsically pop through a narrative that has some breathtakingly simple bits of breathtaking metaphysical depth.


One notable moment has Kralj having a conversation with a prerecorded version of herself that is being projected larger than life at the back of the stage. She’s asking herself about who she is and who she was and she’s answering herself...but she already knows the answers. Elsewhere, Renda is performing a live monologue as video footage of him plays in the background...driving around in search of direction in video as he stands perfectly still onstage. Anderson also has a solo moment in which he considers some of the first principles if superheroing. It’s a surprisingly novel monologue that manages to stake out some strikingly new ground relating to power and responsiibility in a superhero genre that’s been around for over 80 years.


For the most part, the three are all onstage or screen together at various moments over the course of a brief, intermission-less performance that casually touches reality from many different angles. The narrative ends where most stories begin. The whole thing feels like a tripe, little anti-show that plays on all of the empty spaces, silences and darknesses that exist along the edges of perception. On at least one level, it’s as though the show is as much about what it ISN’T as it is about what it is. Theatre like. This doesn’t come around often. It’s breathtakingly deep in a way that feels deliciously organic. It’s all very simple...but the simplest things leave an audience with the most room to consider so much more room for thought on the way out of the theatre.


Theatre Gigante’s Here There Where continues through May 19th at Kenilworth 508 Theatre on 1925 E. Kenilworth Boulevard. For more information, visit Theatre Gigante Online.

There’s a pleasant variety of different shows making it to the small stage this month including a variable plot adventure with First Stage, a promising tenth anniversary for Reanaissance’s new play festival, the emergence of a new opera company and a charismatic one-man show. Here’s a look at what’s coming in May in Milwaukee.

​First Stage presents an interactive adventure with a variable plot as it presents Escape from Peligro Island--A Create Your Own Adventure Play. Playwright Finegan Kruckmeyer pastes together a surrealistic fantasy adventure which tells the story of Callaway Brown. He starts the story stranded on a desert island, but things can go in many disparate directions depending on the decisions of the audience in a fun experimental theatre experience. Director Jeff Frank leads the cast in a show that runs May 10 - June 2 at the Milwaukee. Youth Arts Center on 325 W Walnut St. For ticket reservations and more, visit First Stage online.

Theatre Gigante welcomes Spring with a brand new program--Here There Where...described as "An enigmatic theatrical piece that fluctuates between keen absurdity and poetic musings, interweaving dialogue, monologues, music, video, movement, and a lot of playful wisdom."

Gigante is really, really good with this sort of thing. They've been doing it for quite a long time now. They know what they're doing....it can be breathtakingly fascinating stuff when they frame it well. The show runs for one weekend only: May 17 - 19 at Kenilworth 508 Theatre - 1925 East Kenilworth Place, 5th floor. For more information, visit Theatre Gigante online. 

 

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Renaissance Theaterworks’ Br!NK New Play Festival turns TEN this year with some drama, some comedy and lots and lots and lots of shorts. Featured on the festival is the story of a woman who returns to an island looking for answers about the death of her brother. There’s also a number of shorts written by some pretty impressive names including  Deanna Strasse and  Maria Pretzl. (They’re both really, really cool. Trust me.) The festival runs May 18 and 19 at The Baumgartner Center for Dance on 128 N Jackson St. in the Third Ward. For more information, visit Br!NK  online.

Next Act’s performance space serves as the launching point for  Brew City Opera--a new company which emerges at the end of the month...with a production of Così fan tutte. A man disguises himself in order to hit on his best friend’s fiancé in a light and enjoyable comedy. It’s a warm romantic comic hug from Mozart that comes to inhabit the space at 255 S Water St. BCO should have little difficulty filling the intimate studio theatre space with a light and spacious three hours of Mozart at the dawn of the summer of 2024. The show runs May 30 - June 1st. For more information, visit BCO online.

Actor/performer Thom Cauley presents a story of life with Autism in his one-man show The Spectrum Revisited (or a Typical Neuro-Atypical.) Cauley talks the history of the science, his personal life in a spoken word show infused with song parodies. Cauley has shown a charming and charismatic stage presence in and around the edges of larger ensembles. It should be fun to see him move into something right in the center of the stage. Should be fun evening. The show runs May 31 - June 9th at Hi-Five Studios on 3276 N Weil St. For more information, visit the show’s Facebook page.